


Assurances

by Spacecadet72



Series: Tumblr Fic [4]
Category: Forever (TV)
Genre: F/M, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-02-24
Updated: 2015-02-24
Packaged: 2018-03-14 21:58:22
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 828
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3427067
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Spacecadet72/pseuds/Spacecadet72
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Jo goes for a walk with her great-niece and bumps into someone she hasn't seen in a long time.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Assurances

**Author's Note:**

> Loosely based off of [this post](http://truthisademurelady.tumblr.com/post/111881849895/otpprompts-imagine-person-a-of-your-otp-is) on tumblr.

"Auntie Jo! Look at that puppy! Can I go pet it?" 

"If you ask first." Jo answers, smiling as her great-niece, Erika, runs ahead, towards the Cavalier King Charles Spaniel by the benches. 

Jo follows behind more slowly then she likes and when she reaches them, Erika is already petting the dog. The dog's owner is crouched down at Erika's level, talking to her softly. 

"He's a beautiful dog." Jo says, as she leans down to scratch the dog between the ears. 

"Thank you." the owner says as he turns his head to look up at her. She freezes. The dog nudges her hand with his head to get her petting him again and she moves her hand, focuses on that motion. 

"Jo?" Henry asks and she knows that he's asking to be sure, knows that it wouldn’t be the first time he sees someone who isn't really there. 

"Hello, Henry." her voice is quieter than she means, but she can't make herself repeat the words. 

He rises and they are face to face for the first time in over a decade. She knows of course that he doesn’t age, has seen it, but it still startles her. She has always imagined that if they were to meet again, a little like this, that she would see the effects of time on his face. The changes are there, but it’s in the heaviness behind his eyes, the weight that falls invisibly across his shoulders. 

He nods once and looks around as if trying to find answers in the park around them before turning his attention back to her. "Are you living in New York now?"

She had gone to live with a friend in Virginia for a while, after, but she hadn't told him where she was going. Just that she was. 

She knows he had understood, even if he hadn't agreed, even as he had begged her not to go.

But she'd seen how hard it was at the end with Abe and she thought, maybe if she left, she could spare him that. She's not sure, now that he's here in front of her, that she made the right choice. 

"I moved back a few years ago. I couldn't stay away from the city forever." and she'd hoped he'd moved on, started a new life, somewhere else. She knows she shouldn’t be surprised that he is still be in New York. She imagines him always in the bustle of the big city, can’t picture him happy in a small town. 

He smiles, but it's really just a small upturn of his lips. "It is difficult to picture you anywhere but the city." 

She nods, wonders at how similarly they think even after all this time, but doesn't say anything. 

They stand in an awkward silence and it almost makes her wish for a case to talk about. She watches as Erika pets Henry’s dog, chattering away, unaware of what is going on between the two adults standing above her. 

Henry gestures to Erika with a tilt of his head. "Is she your granddaughter?"

She shakes her head, hearing the question he doesn't ask. "Great-niece. I never had any children."

"Ah." his expression isn't difficult to read. She can see the guilt and sorrow in every line on his face. 

"How about you?" she asks, even as she hates herself for pushing at what she knows are deep and for him, recent wounds.

He shakes his head. "Not since..." He clears his throat. "No, no children." he forces a smile and lifts the dog’s leash. “Just us.”

Jo nods, but has nothing to say. She feels a tug on her coat and looks down. 

“Auntie Jo, can we go get lunch now? I’m hungry.” Erika’s voice is bordering on a whine, and Jo knows food is needed and soon if they are going to avoid a meltdown. 

“I shouldn’t keep you.” Henry says, stepping away. 

“It was good to see you.”

“It was.” Henry replies, and this time some of his smile reaches his eyes. She starts walking away before Henry calls out to her.

“Jo,”

She turns around, and he hesitates before speaking again. 

“Have you been happy?” he asks, and she knows this answer is important. 

She nods and answers with a sincere, but small smile. “I have.” she says and means it. 

He looks pleased at that. 

“Have you?” she asks before he can turn his back to walk away. He smiles back, but it’s tight and watery. She knows him, knows he can get stuck in one of his funks, brooding until someone pulls him out of it. Before, that would have been her, or Abe and before that, it was Abigail. Even Hanson and Lucas could pull him out of it at one time, but if he is alone again… How much loss can someone experience before it's too much?

“I’ve tried to be.” he says finally before turning and walking away.

**Author's Note:**

> Their ending lines to each other are a reference to [this scene](http://bearholdingashark.tumblr.com/post/111937946170%22>this%20scene</a>%20at%20the%20end%20of%20The%20End%20of%20Time%20\(Doctor%20Who\)%20where%20the%20Doctor%20visits%20Verity%20Newman.) from Doctor Who.


End file.
